BJP using Balakot airstrike to derive political mileage ahead of UP Assembly polls: Farooq Abdullah

Slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah on Thursday said the party is using the Balakot airstrike issue to derive political mileage in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

"Balakot! Balakot! Did the line (LoC) change? Did we get back any piece of land from Pakistan? The line is still there. We dropped our own aircraft there. What did we get? Instead, BJP came to power. They are doing it today too. They are spreading hatred to win Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections," said Abdullah.

Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh are slated for early next year.

On February 14, 2019, Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) targeted a CRPF convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar highway near Pulwama in South Kashmir killing 40 CPRF personnel.

Days later the IAF launched an air-strike on a JeM camp in Balakot in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.

The air-strike was launched in the early hours of February 26 and Pakistan's efforts to launch an offensive the next day to target Indian military installations in Jammu and Kashmir was thwarted by an alert IAF.

In the dogfight, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, flying a MiG-21 Bison fighter plane and chasing Pakistani jets, crossed over to PoK where his aircraft was shot down. He was taken into custody by Pakistan. India also shot down a Pakistani fighter jet.

( With inputs from ANI )

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